SMOLLETT, TOBIAS, or, to give
him his full name, as it appears in the baptismal record, TOBIAS GEORGE
SMOLLETT, a celebrated novelist, poet, and miscellaneous writer, was born in
the oldhouse of Dalquhurn, near the modern village of Renton, in the parish
of Cardross, Dumbartonshire, in the year 1721. His family had held
considerable local rank for several centuries. His grandfather, Sir James
Smollett, of Bonhill, served as commissioner for Dumbarton, in the Scottish
parliaments, between the Revolution and the Union; in the latter
negotiation, he was chosen a commissioner on the Scottish side. Archibald,
the fourth son of this gentleman, by Jane, daughter of Sir Aulay Macaulay,
of Ardincaple, received a liberal education, but was bred to no profession.
Without previously consulting his father, he married Barbara Cunningham,
daughter of Mr Cunningham, of Gilbertfield, near Glasgow; a woman of
distinguished understanding, taste, and elegance, but no fortune. Sir James,
though displeased with the match, as having been entered into without his
knowledge, provided for his son, by giving him a liferent of his farm of
Dalquhurn; which, with an annuity, made his income about 300 pounds a-year.

Archibald Smollett had three
children. Soon after the birth of the youngest, the subject of this memoir,
he died, leaving his family entirely dependent on the bounty of his father.
Tobias very early gave promising indications of a lively wit and vigorous
understanding, which were cultivated, not only by the fond partiality of his
mother, but by a frequent intercourse with his venerable grandfather, whose
long experience "in courts and great affairs," conspired with his natural
inclination, in directing his attention to the study of the conduct and
characters of men, and the science of life. He received the rudiments of
education at the neighbouring school of Dumbarton, which was then taught by
Mr John Love, a distinguished grammarian, well known for his controversies
with Ruddiman.

The scene of Smollett’s
childhood was the most favourable that could be conceived for nursing an
infant poet. Abounding in all the charms of natural scenery, it hung on the
very confines of that rude romantic land, where still the Highlander roamed
in untamed pride, exhibiting nearly all the primitive features of a nomadic
tribe. Within a few miles of Smollett’s residence, under the roof of his
courtly grandfather, the traveller would have lost himself in the wild
domains of the Macfarlanes and Macgregors; men who even still stood out in
arms against the sway of civilization, and rarely appeared beyond the
threshold of the hills, except on some predatory excursion, or some wild
crusade against the existing political and religious settlements of the
country. Far and wide over the beautiful lowland region, inhabited by
Smollett, were seen the lofty tops of Ben Lomond, Ben More, and others of
the kindred of hills, whose dim and misty grandeur was calculated to awaken
vivid associations, regarding the character of the country and its
inhabitants. On the other hand, he beheld, rising from his native valley,
the castles of Cardross and Dumbarton, in one of which the heroic Robert
Bruce had spent his latter years, and breathed his last; while, in the
other, Wallace had often defied his country’s foes, and was at length
immured as a prisoner. It was probably under the influence of this
neighbourhood, that Smollett, like Burns, was, at a very early period,
struck with admiration of the character of Wallace, whose adventures,
reduced from the verse of Blind Harry, by Hamilton of Gilbertfield, were in
every boy’s hand, and formed a constant theme of fire-side and nursery
stories. To such a degree arose Smollett’s enthusiasm on this subject, that,
ere he had quitted Dumbarton school, he wrote verses to the memory of the
Scottish champion. [It is also recorded that he wrote satires on his
school-fellows.]

The romantic disposition of
Tobias Smollett, thus nursed, made him wish to be a soldier. He was
thwarted, however, in this predilection, by his grandfather, who, having
already permitted the elder brother, James, to engage in a military career,
thought he could better advance the prospects of the younger in a distinct
course of life. Tobias was, therefore, sent to study at Glasgow college,
with a view to some of the learned professions. There he was led, by the
intimacy he formed with some of the medical students, to embrace the
profession of physic, which he forthwith studied, along with anatomy, under
the proper professors, at the same time that he served an apprenticeship in
town, to a surgeon, named Gordon, whom he is supposed to have afterwards
caricatured in "Roderick Random," under the title of Potion. His
talent for satire and poignant remark, was here gradually developed, in
favour of such specimens of affectation, hypocrisy, and meanness, as fell
under his observation. He was also given to what are called practical jokes.
One winter evening, when the streets were covered with snow, he was engaged
in a snow-ball fight with some boys of his own age, among whom was the
apprentice of a surgeon, whom he is supposed to have delineated under the
name of Crab in "Roderick Random." The master of this apprentice
having entered his shop, while the youth was in the heat of the engagement,
rebuked him very severely on his return, for having quitted the shop. The
boy excused himself, by saying that, while engaged in making up a
prescription, a fellow had hit him with a snow-ball, and he had gone in
pursuit of the delinquent. "A mighty probable story, truly," said the
master, in an ironical tone; "I wonder how long I should stand here, before
it would enter into any mortal’s head to throw a snow-ball at me." Just as
he pronounced these words, Smollett, who had overheard them at the door,
gave him a most unexpected answer, by throwing a snow-ball, which hit him a
very severe blow on the face, and extricated his companion.

But the early years of
Smollett were devoted to better pursuits than these. While still studying
medicine at the college, he composed a tragedy on the death of James I. of
Scotland, styled the "Regicide;" and which, though not calculated for the
stage, certainly displayed considerable ability.

While in his eighteenth year,
he had the misfortune to lose his grandfather, who died without making any
provision for either him or any of the rest of his father’s family. He,
therefore, resolved to seek his fortune in London; while his sister, having
married Mr Telfer, a respectable and wealthy gentleman of Lanarkshire, was
able to afford an asylum to his mother. His elder brother, James, who had
before this entered the army, and reached the rank of captain, was lost at
sea, off the coast of America.

The stock with which Smollett,
at nineteen, entered upon London life, consisted of a small sum of money, a
large assortment of letters of introduction, a mind stored with professional
knowledge and general literature, a rich vein of humour, and an engaging
person and address. He tried, at first, to get his tragedy brought upon the
stage; but the attempt only brought him disappointment and chagrin. His
friends, however, were able to procure him an appointment as surgeon’s mate
to a ship of the line; in which capacity he sailed, in 1741, in the
unfortunate expedition to Carthagena, under admiral Vernon and general
Wentworth. Of this blundering affair, he published a most faithful and
spirited account in his "Compendium of Voyages and Travels," seven volumes,
octavo, 1756; as also, what may be styled a personal narrative, in "Roderick
Random." He was so much disgusted with his situation, that, though he had
the prospect of promotion, he quitted the service at Jamaica, where he
resided for some time. On his return to Britain, in 1746, he was met by
accounts of the barbarities exercised by the duke of Cumberland’s army in
the north of Scotland; which, notwithstanding that his political principles
were whiggish, drew from him an indignant burst of patriotic eloquence, in
the well-known ode, beginning--

He is said to have originally
finished this production in six stanzas; but some individuals having
represented to him, that such an expression of sentiment might give offence,
and retard his progress in life, he sat down, in a fit of still more
vehement indignation, and, almost instantaneously, produced the seventh
stanza, beginning--

An anecdote, which shows that
Smollett, like many other men of distinguished genius, was

"Too fond of the right, to
pursue the expedient."

The above anecdote is taken
from Dr Anderson’s accurate life of Sniollatt; but that the subject of our
memoir was in London, between 1741 and 1746 is abundantly clear from the
following letter, which is here, for the first time committed to print:—

"Dear Sir,—I am this minute
happy in yours, which affords me all the satisfaction of hearing from you,
without the anxiety naturally flowing from its melancholy occasion; for I
was informed of the decease of our late friend by a letter from Mr Gordon,
[Probably his former master at Glasgow.]dated the day after his
death.

"All those (as well as my
dear Barclay) who knew the intimacy betwixt us, must imagine that no stroke
of fate could make a deeper impression on my soul than that which severs me
for ever from one I so entirely loved! from one who merited universal
esteem; and who, had he not been cut off in the very blossom of his being,
would have been an ornament to society, the pride and joy of his parents,
and a most inestimable jewel to such as were attached to him, as we were, by
the sacred ties of love and friendship. O my dear Ritchie, little did I
think, at our last parting, we should never meet again! How many hours,
days, nay, years, of enjoyment, did I promise myself on the prospect of
seeing thee again! How has my heart throbbed at thy imaginary presence! And
how oft have I conversed with thee by the indulgence of a dream! Even when I
waked to my disappointment, I flew to pleasing hope for refuge, and
reflected on the probability of real gratification! But now, alas, even that
forsakes me. Hope itself lies buried with its object, and remembrance
strives to soothe itself by recalling the delightful scenes of past
intercourse! Dear brother, this is a theme I can scarce quit; my imagination
broods o’er my melancholy, and teems with endless sentiments of grief and
tenderness. My weeping muse would fain pay a tribute to his manes; and, were
I vain enough to think my verse would last, I would perpetuate his
friendship and his virtue.

"As for the particulars you expect
from me, you must wait until I shall be better informed myself: for, to tell
you an extraordinary truth, I do not know, as yet, whether you had better
congratulate or condole with me. I wish I was near you, that I might pour
forth my heart before you, and make you judge of its dictates, and the
several steps I have lately taken; in which case, I am confident you and all
honest men would acquit my principles, howsoever my prudentials might be
condemned. However, I have moved into the house where the late John Douglas,
surgeon, died, and you may henceforth direct for Mr Smollett, surgeon, in
Downing Street, West. My respects wait on Mr John Gordon and family; and
please let my condolence and best wishes be made acceptable to the parents
of my much lamented friend. At the same time, receive yourself the
additional portion of affection he possessed in the heart of

"Your own,

"T. SMOLLETT

"London, May 22nd, 1744.

"Willy Wood, who is just now drinking
a glass with me, offers you his good wishes, and desires you to present his
compliments to Miss Becky Bogle.

"T. S"

In 1746, Smollett published a
satirical poem, in the manner of Juvenal, entitled "Advice," and aimed at
some of the chief political characters of the day. In the beginning of 1747,
appeared a continuation of the same production, under the title of
"Reproof," which attacked all kinds of odious characters, military cowards,
army-contractors, usurers, gamesters, poetasters, &c. The keen and energetic
expressions of those poems, caused the author to be respected, dreaded, and
detested, the usual fate of satirists.

During his residence in
Jamaica, Smollett had formed an attachment to Miss Lascelles, an elegant and
accomplished young lady, of respectable connexions in that island, and who
had the expectation of a fortune of £3000. He now married Miss Lascelles,
and, setting up an elegant domestic establishment in London, indulged in a
style of life suitable to his own generous disposition, and the taste and
education of his wife. Being disappointed, however, of the expected fortune
of Mrs Smollett, which cost him an expensive and vexatious lawsuit, without
ever being realized, he was obliged to have recourse to his pen for
subsistence, and produced his novel of "Roderick Random," in two volumes
(1748); a work founded partly upon the incidents of his own life, though in
no very decided manner. The singular humour of this work, its amazing truth
to nature, and the entertainment which it is calculated to afford to minds
of all orders, secured it a most extensive sale, and raised both the fortune
and the fame of the author. It was followed by the publication of the
"Regicide," which was also profitable; and in 1750, Smollett paid a visit to
Paris.

In 1751, when as yet only
thirty years of age, he produced "Peregrine Pickle," in four volumes; a more
regular, and perhaps more elaborate novel than "Roderick Random," but hardly
so entertaining, and certainly much more obnoxious than its predecessor, to
the charge of licentiousness and coarseness, in some of its passages. It is
somewhat remarkable, that neither in this novel, nor in "Roderick Random,"
does he make his hero a perfect gentleman: in both characters, the mixture
of selfishness and want of principle, is very great. It is further
remarkable, that, while the humour of the twoworks is beyond all
parallel in the English language, there is hardly a single dash of pathos,
or even of pure and virtuous feeling. It must be concluded, indeed, from
these and all the other productions of Smollett, that though himself an
honourable and generous man, he cherished no notions of high and abstract
goodness: the fidelity and kindness of Strap and Bowling, though sometimes
touching, are too evidently referable to the simplicity of their respective
classes, to countervail against our observations. The fine passage, also, in
Peregrine Pickle, where the exiled jacobites bewail from the quay of
Boulogne, the land they can still see, but must never again tread, is only
an accidental narration of a real anecdote. The chief person alluded to, was
a Mr Hunter, of Burnside, whom Smollett had met at Boulogne, under the
circumstances described, when engaged in his French tour.

After a vain attempt to get
into practice as a physician—for which purpose he published a medical
pamphlet, and obtained the degree of Doctor of Physic--he assumed the
character of an author by profession, and retired to a small house at
Chelsea, where he lived for some years. The unmerciful manner in which he
had lashed the ministry, precluded all court patronage, even if it had been
the fashion of the court of George II. to extend it. He depended solely on
the booksellers, for whom he wrought in the various departments of
compilations, translations, criticisms, and miscellaneous essays. In 1753,
he produced his novel, entitled "The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom;"a work which appears to be founded upon a mistake both in morals and
metaphysics. To exhibit the details of a life spent in one uninterrupted
series of base and fraudulent transactions, cannot be favourable to the
morals of the world inany case; but the greatest objection is that
such a work is a monstrosity, because no such character ever existed or can
exist. In every view of the case it were better for the literary and moral
reputation of Smollett, that this work had never been written. In the
beginning of 1755, he published his translation of Don Quixote, which,
though esteemed less faithful than others previously given to the English
public, conveys more perfectly, because more freely, the humour of the
author. This work was very profitable to the translator.

Smollett now revisited his
native country for the first timesince he had first left it. On
arriving at Scotston, in Peebleshire where his mother resided with her
daughter, Mrs Telfer, it was arranged that he shouldbe introduced to
the old lady as a gentleman from the West Indies, who was intimately
acquainted with her son. The better to support his assumed character, he
endeavoured to preserve a very serious countenance, approaching to a frown;
but while his mother’s eyes were rivetted with the instinct of affection
upon his countenance, he could not refrain from smiling: she immediately
sprang from her chair, and, throwing her arms around his neck, exclaimed
"Ah! my son, my son!" She afterwards told him that, if he had kept his
austere looks and continued to gloom, she might have perhaps been
deceived; but "your old roguish smile," she added, "betrayed you at once."

After a little tour through
the circle of his Scottish acquaintance, he returned to London, and
commenced in 1756, the "Critical Review," which professed to maintain Tory
principles against the Whig work called the Monthly Review. His
contributions to this periodical were numerous and excellent, though
sometimes disgraced by intemperance of language. He soon after published his
large collection of Voyages formerly alluded to.

Passing over a farce,
entitled the "Reprisal," which was acted with success in 1757, Smollett’s
next work was his "Complete History of England," deduced from the descent of
Julius Caesar, to the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748, which appeared in
1758 in 4 vols., 4to. As only a part of Hume’s History had hitherto
appeared, this work was the first of the kind, in which any large share of
ability or any considerable elegance of composition had been displayed. The
judgments of the writer upon political characters and transactions are by no
means in the most popular strain, nor are they even consistent; but,
nevertheless, the spirit and sprightliness of the narrative secured it
approbation. It met with so extensive a sale, that, with the continuation
afterwards published in two similar quarto volumes, it brought him two
thousand pounds, while half as much was made by the bookseller to whom he
sold the Continuation, from a mere transference of the copyright of that
part of the work. It has been declared, and never contradicted, that the
four quarto volumes, embracing a period of thirteen hundred years, were
composed and finished for the press infourteen months; an effort to
which nothing but the greatest abilities, and the most vigorous application,
could have been equal. The shortness of time bestowed on the "Complete
History of England," joined to the merit of the performance, and the
consideration of the infinite pains and perseverance it must have cost him
to form and digest a proper plan, compile materials, compare different
accounts, collate authorities, and compose, polish, and finish the work,
will make it be regarded as one of the most striking instances of facility
in writing that is to be found in literary history. The work, in its entire
shape, has long been superseded; but it has always been customary to supply
the defect of Hume’s work with a continuation from Smollett, embracing the
period between the Revolution and the Accession of George III.

The one grand defect of
Smollett’s character was his propensity to satire. According to the report
of an early companion, his conversation in company was a continued string of
epigrammatic sarcasms against one or other of those present; a practice so
disagreeable that no degree of talent could excuse it. When he wrote
satirically, it was generally in reference to something mean, cowardly,
selfish, or otherwise odious to his own upright and generous feelings. It
did not occur to him, nor has it properly been considered either by
satirists or those who delight in satire—that for a private individual to
set himself up in judgment upon a fellow being, and, without examining any
evidence or hearing any defence, to condemn him at once and irremediably to
the pillory of the press, is an invasion of the rights of the subjects just
as wicked, as it would be to take away from an ordinary culprit the trial by
jury, and the privilege of being heard by counsel. Smollett was in the habit
of indulging his propensity veryfrequently in the Critical Review,
and, as a natural result of his warm and hasty temper, he often censured and
ridiculed without a proper cause. Hence, he was perpetually subject to
counter assaults from provoked authors, and occasionally to legal
prosecutions, the effect of which was so severe that he is found, September
28, 1758, describing himself to Dr Moore, as sick of both praise and blame,
and praying to his God that circumstances might permit him to consign his
pen to oblivion! In the end of this year, in consequence of some severe
expressions he had used inthe Review regarding admiral Knowles, a
prosecution was raised against the printer; chiefly for the purpose of
ascertaining the author of the offensive article, from whom, in the event of
his proving a gentleman, the complainant threatened to demand the usual
satisfaction. After every attempt to soften admiral Knowles had failed,
Smollett came boldly forward and screened the printer by avowing himself the
author of the article, and offering any satisfaction that might be required.
Knowles, who had sailed as a captain in the expedition to Carthagena,
probably thought it beneath him to fight a man who had been a surgeon’s mate
in the same fleet, even though that surgeon’s mate boasted of some good
Caledonian blood, and was besides booked for immortality in the scrolls of
fame. The penalty paid by Smollett for his rashness was a fine of one
hundred pounds and an imprisonment for three months in the King’s Bench
prison. Yet, in this misfortune, he was not without consolation. His conduct
was generally pronounced very magnanimous, and his friends continued to
visit him in prison the same as in his neat villa at Chelsea.

To beguile the tedium of
confinement, he wrote a fantastic novel, entitled "The Adventures of Sir
Launcelot Greaves," which appeared in detached portions through the
successive numbers of the British Magazine for 1760 and 1761. This is
deservedly ranked among the least happy of Smollett’s performances. The
drollery entirely lies in the adventures of a crazy English gentleman, who
sets out armed cap-a-pie, in the character of a knight-errant, and roams
through modern England, to attack vice wherever it can be found, to protect
defenceless virtue, and remedy the evils which the law cannot reach. While
some amusement is afforded by the contrast of such a character with the
modern common-place beings amongst whom he moves, it is only the imperfect
amusement yielded by the exhibition of natural madness: the adventures of an
imaginary sovereign broken loose from a mad house could hardly be less
drearily entertaining. Smollett, in the haste with which he wrote his novel,
has evidently proceeded upon the idea of an English Don Quixote; without
recollecting that the work of the illustrious Cervantes had a rational aim,
in proposing to counteract the rage of the Spanish people for tales of
knightly adventure. His own work, having no such object, labours under the
imputation of being an imitation, without any countervailing advantage. Yet,
strange to say, such was the prestige of Smollett’s name and example,
that the work not only sold to a great extent as a separate work, but was
followed by many sub-imitations, such as the Spiritual Quixote, the Amicable
Quixote, the Female Quixote, &c.

In 1760, Smollett became
engaged with other literary adventurers, in a large and important work,
which was finished in 1764, in 42 volumes, under the title of "The Modern
Part of an Universal History." He is supposed to have contributed the
histories of France, Italy, and Germany, to this work, and to have received
altogether, for his share of the labour, no less a sum than £1575.
Throughout the same period, he was engaged in his "Continuation of the
History of England, from 1748 to 1765," which first appeared in five
successive octavo volumes and finally in 2 vols, 4to, 1766 It has been
already mentioned that, for this work, he is supposed to have received such
a price as enabled the purchaser to sell itto a bookseller at a
profit of one thousand pounds.

Smollett had been originally
a Whig, but he gradually became something very like a Tory. A diffusive
philanthropy, by which he was inspired, with perhaps some impressions from
early education, had made him the first, a disgust at the conduct of some of
his party appears to have inclined him to the second. The accession of a
Scottish prime minister in the earl of Bute, as it excited much opposition
among the English, so it attracted a proportionate degree of support from
the Scotch who now very generally became adherents of the government, from a
motive of nationality, without regard to their former political sentiments.
Smollett went into this enthusiasm, and on the very day of the earl of
Bute’s elevation, May 29th, 1762, he started a newspaper entitled "The
Briton," in which he laboured to break down the prejudices of the English
against a Scottish premier, and undertook the defence of the new
administration upon its own merits. Within a week after this event, an
opposition journal was started by Wilkes, with whom Smollett had previously
lived on the most intimate terms of friendship, but who now became his
political antagonist The North Briton, (so was this paper called,) supported
by the overpowering national feelings of England, very soon proved too much
for its rival; and on the 12th February, 1763, Smollett abandoned the
publication. He did not shine as a party writer, wanting that coolness which
is necessary in forming replies and repartees to all the paragraphs with
which he was assailed: like the most of professed satirists, he could endure
nothing so ill as satire. Lord Bute, who resigned in the April following, is
said to have never sufficiently acknowledged the services of Smollett.

Among the publications with
which Smollett was connected about this time, were, a translation of the
works of Voltaire in twenty-seven volumes, and a work in eight volumes,
entitled "The Present State of all Nations." In the first his name was
associated with that of the Rev. T. Francklin, translator of Sophocles; but
in neither is it probable that much was written by his own hand.

He had now for many years
prosecuted the sedentary and laborious employment of an author by
profession. Though little more than forty years of age, and possessed
originally of a most robust frame, he began to suffer from ill health. His
life, which ought to have been rendered comfortable by the large sums he
procured for his works, was embittered by "the stings and arrows" which his
own satirical disposition had caused to be directed against himself, and by
the loss of friends, which he was perpetually suffering, either from that
cause, or from political differences. To add to his other miseries, he had
the misfortune at this time to lose his daughter and only child, Elizabeth,
a girl of fifteen, whose amiable disposition and elegant accomplishments had
become the solace of his life, and promised to be in future a still more
precious blessing. Under this accumulation of distresses, he was prevailed
upon by his wife to seek consolation in travel; and accordingly, in
June, 1763, he went abroad, and continued in France about two years.

In the course of his travels,
Smollett seems to have laboured under a constant fit of ill humour, the
result of morbid feelings, and a distempered bodily system. This is amply
visible in the work which he published on his return, entitled, "Travels
through France and Italy," 2 vols. 8vo., of which two passages may be here
extracted.

"With respect to the famous
Venus Pontia, commonly called de Medicis, Ibelieve I ought to
be entirely silent, or at least conceal my real sentiments, which will
otherwise appear equally absurd and presumptuous. It must be want of taste
that prevents my feeling that enthusiastic admiration with which others are
inspired at sight of this statue. I cannot help thinking there is no beauty
in the features of Venus, and that the attitude is awkward and out of
character."

"I was much disappointed at
sight of the Pantheon, which, after all that has been said of it, looks like
a huge cock-pit, open at the top."

These observations upon works
of art that had been the subject of universal admiration for centuries,
could not be attributed to an original and native want of taste in such a
man as Smollett: they must therefore be ascribed altogether to the
distempered light which disease threw around every object that claimed his
attention. The morose style of his "Travels"cabled forth universal remark;
but nothing excited more surprise than what he had said regarding Venus and
the Pantheon. His observations upon these subjects drew down upon him the
following sarcastic notice from Sterne.

"The learned Smelfungus
travelled from Boulogne to Paris—from Paris to Rome--and so on; but he set
out with the spleen and the jaundice, and every object he passed by was
discoloured and distorted. He wrote an account of them, but it was nothing
but an account of his miserable feelings; I met Smelfungus in the grand
portico of the Pantheon; he was just coming out of it; ‘It is nothing but a
huge cock-pit;’ said he: ‘I wish you had said nothing worse of the Venus
Medicis,’ I replied; for, in passing through Florence, I had heard he had
fallen foul upon the goddess, and used her worse than a common strumpet,
without the least provocation in nature. I popped upon Smelfungus again at
Turin, in his return home, and a sad and sorrowful tale of adventures he had
to tell, wherein he spoke of moving accidents by flood and field, and of the
cannibals which each other eat: the Anthropophagi. He had been flayed alive,
and bedeviled, and worse used than St Bartholomew, at every stage he had
come at. ‘I’ll tell it,’ said Smelfungus, ‘to the world.’ ‘You had better
tell it,’ said I, ‘to your physician.’" [Sentimental Journey, vol. i.]

A continental tour having
failed to restore health and spirits, he now resolved to try the effect of
native air and native scenery. About the beginning of June, 1766, he arrived
in Edinburgh, where he passed some time with his mother, who retained, at an
advanced age, a strong understanding, and an uncommon share of humour, and
whom he loved with all the warmth of filial affection. [During his residence
in Edinburgh, he lived in his mother’s house, or rather his sister’s, at the
head of St John Street, in the Canongate.]He then proceeded with
his sister, Mrs Telfer, and his nephew, a young officer inthe army,
to Glasgow; whence, after a brief stay, they went, accompanied by Dr Moore,
to Cameron, the residence of his cousin, Mr Smollett, of Bonhill, on the
banks of Lochlomond. During the whole time of his stay, he was afflicted
with severe rheumatic pains, and with a neglected ulcer in his arm, which
almost unfitted him for enjoying society. He afterwards commemorated the
impressions, and some of the adventures which he experienced in this tour,
in his last and best novel, "Humphrey Clinker," which was published in 1771,
while he resided in Italy. In the account which he gives in this novel of
some branches of Edinburgh society, he had real characters and real customs
in his eye. The "Mr M—," at whose house his characters are represented as
having seen a haggisat table, was Mr Mitchelson, a writer
to the signet, connected with the family of Sir Walter Scott. The "beautiful
Miss E—R---," whom Jerry Melford signalizes at a ball, was Miss Eleonora
Renton, daughter of John Renton, Eds. of Lamerton, by lady Susan, daughter
of Alexander, ninth earl of Eglintoun. Her eldest ssiter became the wife of
Mr Telfer, nephew of Smollett, and communicated the name of Renton to a
large manufacturing village, now situated at Dalquhurn, the birth-place of
the novelist. The young lady whose elgant person attracted the notice of
Smollett in 1766, was the late dowager Mrs Sharpe of Hoddam, and mother of
the ingenious historical antiquary, the late Mr Charles Kilpatrick Sharpe.

It may, perhaps, surprise
those who have enjoyed the exquisite humour of the Scottish scenes in
Humphrey Clinker, that, during the whole tour which he has commemorated
under tha fictitious shape, he suffered so much pain from his arm, as to be,
in some measure, mentally affected: he acknowledged himself, that,
from April till November, 1766, he had a king of coma vigil; and that
his Scottish journey, therefore, which ended in August, "produced only
misery and disgust." [Letter to Dr Moore.]

He spent the winter of 1766-7
in Bath, where he was quit of his ulcer, and recover a considerable portion
of his original health. In 1760, he published his "Adventures of an Atom,"
two vols. 12mo; a political romance, or jeu d’ esprit, exhibiting,
under Japanese names, the characters and conduct of the leaders of party,
from the commencement of the French war in 1756, to the dissolution of lord
Chatham’s administration, in 1767-8. Soon afterwards, his ailments having
recurred with violence, he was recommended to try once more the genial
climate of Italy; but, his circumstances being inadequate to the expense of
the journey, and of his remaining free from all care, but what concerned his
health, application was made to obtain for him the office of consul at Nice,
Naples, or Leghorn. This application was unsuccessful; because the
government, as usual, could not spare any patronage, except for its friends.
Smollett had, therefore, to set out for Italy, in 1770, under circumstances
far from easy, and which must have, no doubt, materially increased his
personal distress. He chose for his residence a cottage near Leghorn,
situated on a mountain side, overlooking the sea, and surrounded by some of
the fairest scenery in Tuscany. While residing here, he published, in 1771,
"The Adventures of Humphrey Clinker," in which his own character, as it
appeared in later life, under the pressure of bodily disease, is delineated
in the person of Matthew Bramble. During the summer of 1774, he declined
very rapidly; and at length, on the 21st of October, death put a period to
his sufferings.

Smollett, who thus died
prematurely in the fifty-first year of his age, and the bloom of his mental
faculties, was tall and handsome, with a most prepossessing carriage and
address, and all the marks and manners of a gentleman. His character, laying
aside the unhappy propensity to sarcasm and epigram, was of an elevated and
generous cast, humane and benevolent; and he only practiced virtue too
rigorously, and abhorred vice too vehemently, for his own comfort, in a
world of inferior morality. An irritable and impatient temper, and a proud,
improvident disposition, were his greatest, and almost his only failings. Of
his genius, as a delineator of human character, his novels form an
imperishable monument, though certainly not undeformed by considerable
impurity of taste. So long as his "Ode to Leven Water," and his "Ode to
Independence," exist, he can never fail to be admired as a poet.

Three years after Smollett’s
death, a round column, of the Tuscan order, with an urn on its entablature,
was erected to his memory, near the house in which he was born, by his
cousin, Mr Smollett, of Bonhill, who is said to have never manifested any
kindness towards him while he was alive. For this memorial, an inscription
was furnished by the united labours of professor George Stuart of Edinburgh,
Mr Ramsay of Ochtertyre, and Dr Samuel Johnson. Lord Kames also wrote an
English epitaph, which was lost to the learned world, till it appeared in
the work, entitled "Traditions of Edinburgh." A plainer monument was erected
over Smollett’s grave at Leghorn, by his friend and countryman, Dr
Armstrong, who added a very elegant inscription.

The widow of Smollett—the
Narcissa of "Roderick Random"—was left, a poor widow in a foreign land.
The small remains of her husband’s fortune had been settled upon her, under
the trust of Mr Graham of Gartimore, and Mr Bontine, his tried and faithful
friends. The sum, however, was so little, that this elegant woman was soon
involved in great distress. It must have added not a little to the poignancy
of Mrs Smollett’s feelings, that, had her husband lived a few years longer,
he would have succeeded his cousin of Bonhill, as heir of entail, in the
possession of an estate of a thousand a-year, besides, perhaps, the private
wealth of that individual, worth as much more; all of which descended to his
sister, Mrs Telfer. It is alleged by Dr Anderson, that neither Mr Smollett
nor Mrs Telfer ever thought of extending any relief to the widow of their
distinguished relative, the man whose genius has consecrated their family
name to all posterity. It is known, however, that Mr Smollett, almost
immediately after his cousin’s death, gave a considerable sum to the widow,
under pretence of purchasing her husband’s books, few of which ever reached
the purchaser. We certainly cannot but regret, that Mrs Telfer afterwards
permitted an act of public charity to be resorted to for the relief of her
kinswoman. On the 3rd of March, 1784, probably through the exertions of Mr
Graham of Gartmore, a benefit was procured for her in the Theatre Royal,
Edinburgh; on which occasion, the play of Venice Preserved was acted,
with a prologue written by Mr Graham, the money, amounting, with private
donations, to £366, was remitted to Italy; and this was all that Scotland
ever sacrificed for the sake of one of the most illustrious of her sons.

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